Insights

Through independent research, Aegis Property Group examines the second half of 2025's Brisbane fringe office market beyond the numbers - identifying where vacancy and rents are truly heading.

The Brisbane fringe office market remains fundamentally tight, despite a modest increase in headline vacancy during the second half of 2025. Total vacancy increased by 4,627 sqm, bringing overall fringe vacancy toapproximately 11.5%. Importantly, this movement does not reflect a weakening of demand across precincts but rather a few large tenant transactions.

Vacancy Dynamics & Supply Contraction

Vacancy growth during H2 2025 was driven by a small number of large occupiers downsizing, relocating into the CBD, or introducing sub-lease space. Outside of these isolated buildings, vacancy across mostbuildings remained broadly stable.

At the same time, the market experienced a significant net reduction in office stock, with ~38,000 sqm permanently removed through office-to-residential conversions. In our numbers, these assets have been excluded from total office stock, rather than recorded as vacant, providing a more accurate picture of true competitive vacancy. As a result, the total fringe market size contracted by approximately 0.6% since our last report.

Precinct Performance

Performance diverged sharply by precinct, reinforcing a two-speedfringe market:

• Urban Renewal was the standout performer, tightening by approximately 1%, while the rest of the market saw an increase in total vacancy. This precinct continues to attract the majority of tenant relocations, accounting for ~55% of tenant rep-led moves, underpinned by newer buildings, strong amenity, and higher-quality fitted space.
• Inner North recorded the largest increase in vacancy, rising ~2.8% (~4,780 sqm). This was driven by a handful of large vacancy events rather than widespread softening. SME enquiries in the precinct remain strong.
• Inner West and Inner South also saw modest increases in vacancy, again largely attributable to building-specific events.

Overall, there is still strong demand; however, it has become more selective, favouring quality, location, and presentation amidst the lack of good value propositions.

Demand Trends & Occupier Behaviour

A notable trend during 2025 has been the relocation of several large fringe occupiers into the Brisbane CBD. This was not due to a CBD preference, but rather a shortage of high-quality, contiguous fitted space within the fringe. This is encouraging for the development pipeline as many of these tenants were willing to almost double their rental bills to secure higher-quality accommodation in the CBD.

Once their backfill space comes online in 2026–2027, vacancy will rise modestly; however, this will not alter the long-term trends and downward vacancy trajectory ahead of new supply from 2028 onward.

Brokerage Market (<500 sqm)

The majority of vacancy remains concentrated in the brokerage segment, with approximately 170 tenancies sized under 500 sqm across the fringe market. Overall brokerage availability has remained stable and has minimal impact on total vacancy.

Key characteristics include:

• Large supply of smaller suites (100–200 sqm), particularly in the Inner North.
• Limited choice for occupiers seeking 300–500 sqm, which have been heavily in demand over the last 12 months.
• Only ~11.7% of brokerage vacancies offer new speculative fit-outs. The remainder consists of older, fitted or partially fitted spaces, which continue to experience longer letting periods.

Urban Renewal continues to dominate speculative fit-out delivery, accounting for ~63% of all new fit-outs, while Inner North and Inner South lag, contributing to longer leasing timeframes in those precincts.

Mid-Market (500–1,500 sqm)

The mid-market segment remains the most competitive, withonly 85 vacancies across the fringe in this size bracket. In tighter precincts, landlords retain stronger negotiating leverage, while in higher-supply areas, tenants have more choice and so place greater emphasis on incentives, short-term flexibility, and fit-out quality.

Across all precincts, existing fitted accommodation consistently outperforms open-plan space, particularly amid rising fit-out costs and longer decision-making cycles.

Large-Format Supply (>3,000 sqm)

Supply of large contiguous space remains structurallyconstrained. While the number of buildings able to accommodate >3,000 sqm increased from 7 to 11 (since our last update), this was driven by a small number of major occupiers exiting the fringe market. These buildings account for~23,300 sqm of vacancy and continue to inflate headline figures.

Despite short-term volatility, the ongoing withdrawal ofsecondary assets from office use is reducing future large-format supply, reinforcing longer-term tightening.

Sub-Lease Market

Sub-lease vacancy remains stable at approximately 14,000 sqm, materially lower than COVID-era levels (~80,000 sqm). Recent large sub-lease withdrawals have been offset by the introduction of new sub-lease space, leaving overall availability largely unchanged.

Rents, Incentives & Outlook

Despite slightly higher vacancy, rents increased by an average of ~5.6% across the fringe in 2025, with some precincts recording growth of up to 7.9%. Incentives have gradually compressed, particularly forhigh-quality fitted space.

Looking ahead, approximately 41,000 sqm of additionalvacancy is forecast to return by late 2027 following major tenant relocations. Even with this inclusion, vacancy is forecast to remain tight, with multiple factors likely to continueplaying a major role in our market -

• Ongoing office-to-residential conversions
• Olympic-related project demand
• Limited new supply before 2028

Conclusion

Well-located, well-presented, fitted assets continue to be favoured, while secondary stock continues to face prolonged vacancy periods. With constrained future supply and sustained absorption, the medium-to long-term outlook continues to point towards further tightening.

All in all, we are still confident that the overall trend of vacancy is shifting into a tightening market, and we eagerly wait to see how the next couple of years play out.

For more information about our findings or looking to discuss how this update will impact you in the future office move, get in touch with us today.